2000 to 2009: Reviews of the decade + Human rights | The Guardianhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/series/review-of-the-decade+law/human-rights
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Afua Hirsch: Liberty in the decade of extraordinary renditionhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/liberty-decade-extraordinary-rendition-afua-hirsch
'The US developed its own definition of torture and began transporting captives to ghost prisons and a little-known military base in Cuba'<p>With spectacular irony, fundamental rights and freedoms around the world were violated over the decade almost as rapidly as new mechanisms to protect them were being assembled. In the UK, less than a year after New Labour's <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jan/14/human-rights-act" title="Human Rights Act">Human Rights Act</a> promised to protect civil liberties in 2000, new counterterrorism laws began eroding them. Indefinite detention without trial, control orders, asset-freezing and secret court hearings became part of a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/libertycentral/2009/jan/13/anti-terrorism-act" title="new legal order">new legal order</a> – a&nbsp;2004 House of Lords judgment declared, &quot;The&nbsp;real threat to the life of the nation… comes not from terrorism but from laws such as these.&quot;</p><p>Military invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan made the problem global, with questions about the Iraq war's legality soon overshadowed. Photos of<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynndie_England" title=" Lynndie England"> Lynndie England</a> and other US military personnel torturing Iraqi prisoners at <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Ghraib_torture_and_prisoner_abuse" title="Abu Ghraib">Abu Ghraib</a> in 2004 took public opinion to a new low; British forces, too, became embroiled in allegations of mistreatment. <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/osamabinladen" title="Osama bin Laden">Osama bin Laden</a> remained elusive, but hundreds of other terrorist suspects did not. As&nbsp;&quot;extraordinary rendition&quot; entered the popular vocabulary, the US stood accused of kidnapping men as young as 15 and rendering them to countries where interrogation techniques ranged from extracting fingernails to electrocution.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/liberty-decade-extraordinary-rendition-afua-hirsch">Continue reading...</a>Human rightsTortureGuantánamo BayWorld newsLawUS prisonsFri, 16 Oct 2009 23:58:34 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/liberty-decade-extraordinary-rendition-afua-hirschJohn Moore/APA prisoner in an outdoor solitary confinement cage talks with a military policeman at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Photograph: John Moore/APJohn Moore/APA detainee (prisoner) in an outdoor solitary confinement cell (cage) talks with a military policeman at the Abu Ghraib prison on the outskirts of Baghdad, Iraq Tuesday, June 22, 2004. The American soldiers said that he had repeatedly got into fights with other inmates in the prison. (AP Photo/John Moore) Photograph: John Moore/APAfua Hirsch2009-10-16T23:58:34ZQ&amp;A: Moazzam Begghttp://www.theguardian.com/world/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/moazzam-begg-interview
'Wars of occupation increase hatred and provoke resistance. They also unite opposing factions in common cause against the occupier. It's a lesson we should have learned by now'<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/moazzambegg" title="Moazzam Begg">Moazzam Begg</a>, a&nbsp;British Muslim, was arrested by US officials in Pakistan in January 2002 and accused of&nbsp;being a member of&nbsp;al-Qaida. He was imprisoned at Bagram in Afghanistan and Guant&aacute;namo Bay, and released in January 2005. No charges have ever been brought against him. In 2006, he wrote <a href="http://http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2006/feb/25/guantanamo.bookextracts" title="Enemy Combatant: A British Muslim's Journey To Guant&aacute;namo And Back">Enemy Combatant: A&nbsp;British Muslim's Journey To Guant&aacute;namo And Back</a>.</p><p><strong> </strong></p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/moazzam-begg-interview">Continue reading...</a>Moazzam BeggHuman rightsGuantánamo BayFri, 16 Oct 2009 23:58:29 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/moazzam-begg-interviewMurdo MacleodPhotograph: Murdo MacleodMurdo MacleodMoazzam Begg imprisoned in Guantanamo Photograph: Murdo Macleod<strong>Rosanna Greenstreet</strong>2009-10-16T23:58:29ZQ&amp;A: Shami Chakrabartihttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/shami-chakrabarti-interview
'The Human Rights Act is one of the most valuable pieces of legislation on our statute books, enshrining and protecting our common values'<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/shamichakrabarti" title="Shami Chakrabarti ">Shami Chakrabarti </a>worked as a lawyer in the British Home Office between 1996 and 2001. In September 2001 she became in-house counsel for <a href="http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/" title="Liberty">Liberty</a>, one of the UK's leading human rights and civil liberties organisations. Since September 2003, she has been director of Liberty. </p><p><strong>Is the world a better place than it was 10 years ago? </strong><br />Yes. Although there is much to mourn from the past decade, I&nbsp;am cheered by the departure of president Bush and the closing of that chapter of world history.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/uk/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/shami-chakrabarti-interview">Continue reading...</a>Shami ChakrabartiHuman rightsTortureSocietyHuman Rights ActLawFri, 16 Oct 2009 23:58:21 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/uk/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/shami-chakrabarti-interviewFrancesco Guidicini / Rex Featur/Francesco Guidicini / Rex FeaturPhotograph: Francesco Guidicini/RexFrancesco Guidicini / Rex Featur/Francesco Guidicini / Rex FeaturShami Chakrabarti of Liberty
Photograph: Francesco Guidicini / Rex Featur/Francesco Guidicini / Rex Featur<strong>Rosanna Greenstreet</strong>2009-10-16T23:58:21ZQ&amp;A: Clive Stafford Smithhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/clive-stafford-smith-interview
'The big danger we face is secrecy – the conflation of national security with national embarrassment, allowing the government to hide from the public'<p><a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/clivestaffordsmith" title="Clive Stafford Smith">Clive Stafford Smith</a> is director of the charity <a href="http://www.reprieve.org.uk/" title="Reprieve">Reprieve</a>, which he founded in 1999 and which uses the law to enforce the human rights of prisoners. Since 2004, Stafford Smith has focused on those being held by the US in Guant&aacute;namo Bay, including <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/binyam-mohamed">Binyam Mohamed</a>, who was released in February 2009</p><p><strong>Is the world a better place than it was 10 years ago? </strong><br />Sadly, no. For the most part, the world had been on a gradual upward trend until 2001, but president Bush and prime minister Blair have left us in a sorry state, with their combined effort to make Muslims the whipping boys of the world.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/clive-stafford-smith-interview">Continue reading...</a>Human rightsBinyam MohamedTortureSocietyClive Stafford SmithFri, 16 Oct 2009 23:58:16 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/libertycentral/2009/oct/17/clive-stafford-smith-interviewSean Smith/Sean SmithPhotograph: Sean SmithSean Smith/Sean SmithKate Allen, director of Amnesty International, left, Yvonne Bradley the US military lawyer of Binyam Mohamed, centre, and Clive Stafford Smith of Reprieve at a news conference, 23 February 2009, following the release of Binyam Mohammed who was held at Guantanamo Bay. Photograph: Sean Smith/Sean Smith<strong>Rosanna Greenstreet</strong>2009-10-16T23:58:16ZQ&amp;A: Peter Tatchellhttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/17/peter-tatchell-interview
'My hope for the next 10 years is that humanity will come to its moral senses and cease tolerating a world where billions of people live in abject poverty'<p><a href="http://www.petertatchell.net/" title="Peter Tatchell ">Peter Tatchell </a>has been campaigning for human rights for more than 40 years, on issues of democracy, civil liberties, social equality, environmental protection, peace and global justice. He is the <a href="http://www.greenparty.org.uk/" title="Green party ">Green party </a>parliamentary candidate for Oxford East.</p><p><strong>Is the world a better place than it was 10 years ago?</strong><br />Yes and no. Some human rights abusers, such as Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosevic, were put on trial. But not Robert Mugabe, George W Bush or Omar al-Bashir. Selective justice is not justice at all.</p> <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/17/peter-tatchell-interview">Continue reading...</a>Human rightsPeter TatchellFri, 16 Oct 2009 23:09:53 GMThttp://www.theguardian.com/world/2009/oct/17/peter-tatchell-interviewLinda NylindPhotograph: Linda NylindLinda NylindHuman rights campaigner Peter Tatchell Photograph: Linda Nylind<strong>Rosanna Greenstreet</strong>2009-10-16T23:09:53Z